People who profit from advertising bogus cancer cures could face prison under proposed legislation.

Kate O’Connell, the Fine Gael TD, has introduced a bill that would ban advertising of false cures and would target people who suggest that medical treatment for cancer is not necessary.

The bill is being supported by the Irish Cancer Society, the Irish Nutrition and Dietetic Institute, the Irish Association of Nurses in Oncology and the Royal College of Physicians in Ireland.

The Irish Cancer Society has said that patients who are persuaded to use so-called alternative medicine can be five times more likely to die and has appealed to the media not to promote people who make misleading claims.

There has been an increase in alternative treatments that are touted…

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